Mantis Shrimp Navigate Home Using Celestial and Idiothetic Path Integration

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Adaptive signaling behavior in stomatopods under varying light conditions

Stomatopod crustaceans (mantis shrimp) are aggressive benthic marine predators with extraordinary color vision. When communicating with conspecifics, many stomatopods display conspicuously colored body areas, often in combination with other types of signals such as motion and chemical cues. Some species occupy wide depth ranges (>30 m), where changing light conditions can influence color perception. To test the potential effects of differing ambient lights on signaling behavior, stomatopods (Gonodactylus smithii) interacted with conspecifics in aquaria, under full-spectrum, high intensity light or light restricted in either spectrum or intensity. During intrasexual and intersexual trials in full-spectrum, high intensity light, animals performed more aggressive acts using colored body parts (meral spread, lunge, strike). Stomatopods used significantly more antennular flicking, and performed aggressive acts at reduced distances under restricted light conditions. To compare the use of antennules in visual and chemical communication, additional experiments showed more antennular flicking in response to chemical stimuli from food or conspecifics compared to seawater controls. This response ceased immediately after ablation of antennular chemoreceptors but returned to pre-treatment levels after 5 days of recovery. These findings suggest that stomatopods can vary their use of signals during conspecific interactions under different photic conditions. These inducible, plastic behavioral responses can potentially improve signal transfer in varying light environments.     

The adipokinetic hormone of Mantodea in comparison to other Dictyoptera

Six species of the order Mantodea (praying mantises) are investigated for the presence and sequence of putative adipokinetic hormones (AKHs). The selected species span a wide evolutionary range of various families and subfamilies of the clade Mantodea. The corpora cardiaca of the different species are dissected, methanolic extracts prepared, peptides separated by liquid chromatography, and AKHs detected and sequenced by ion trap mass spectrometry. All six species investigated contain an octapeptide with the primary structure pGlu‐Val‐Asn‐Phe‐Thr‐Pro‐Asn‐Trp amide, which is code‐named Emppe‐AKH and had been found earlier in three other species of Mantodea. Conspecific bioassays with the species Creoboter sp. (family Hymenopodidae) reveal an adipokinetic but not a hypertrehalosemic function of Emppe‐AKH. Comparison with other members of the Dictyoptera (cockroaches, termites) show that Emppe‐AKH is only found in certain termites, which have been recently placed into the Blattaria (cockroaches) as sister group to the family Cryptocercidae. Termites and cockroaches both show biodiversity in the sequence of AKHs, and some cockroach species even contain two AKHs. In contrast, all praying mantises—irrespective of their phylogenetic position—synthesize uniformly only one and the same octapeptide Emppe‐AKH.     

The type material of Mantodea (praying mantises) deposited in the National Museum of Natural History,Smithsonian Institution,USA

The collection of Mantodea of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, includes 26 holotypes, 7 allotypes, 4 lectotypes, 23 paratypes, and 1 paralectotype. Four type specimens were designated as lectotypes within this work. Highly accurate measurement data, high resolution images of specimens and labels, verbatim label data, georeferenced coordinates, original and newly assigned database codes, and bibliographic data are presented for all primary types. Label data for all paratype specimens in the collection are provide in tabular form. The location of the USNM collection has been moved to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as a loan under the Off-site Enhancement Program.     

Responses to worm-like-wriggling models by the praying mantis: effects of amount of motion on prey recognition

Adult females of the mantis, Tenodera angustipennis, were presented with a wriggling model, consisting of six circular spots positioned in a row horizontally and adjacently. During presentation, this model wriggled like a worm by moving some spots. When the motion of the model was small (the number of moving spots ≤2), the mantis sometimes stalked the model with peering movements but seldom struck it. When the motion was large (the number of moving spots ≥3), the mantis frequently fixated, rapidly approached, and struck the model. These results suggest that the mantis changes its approach behavior depending on the amount of prey motion. Disappearance of some terminal spots at the stationary end hardly affected the rates of fixation, peering, and strike. The model that wriggled at each end elicited lower rates of fixation and strike than the model that wriggled at one end. These results suggest that the mantis responds to only the fastest moving part of the wriggling model when the motion of the model is large. Electronic Publication     

The midline metathoracic ear of the praying mantis,Mantis religiosa

Summary The praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, is unique in possessing a single, tympanal auditory organ located in the ventral midline of its body between the metathoracic coxae. The ear is in a deep groove and consists of two tympana facing each other and backed by large air sacs. Neural transduction takes place in a structure at the anterior end of the groove. This tympanal organ contains 32 chordotonal sensilla organized into three groups, two of which are 180° out of line with the one attaching directly to the tympanum. Innervation is provided by Nerve root 7 from the metathoracic ganglion. Cobalt backfills show that the auditory neuropile is a series of finger-like projections terminating ipsilaterally near the midline, primarily near DC III and SMC. The auditory neuropile thus differs from the pattern common to all other insects previously studied.     

On display behaviour and courtship in the praying mantis Ephestiasula amoena (Bolivar)

Display behaviour in a small species of Indian praying mantis, Ephestiasula amoena , is described and the possible role of this display in courtship is discussed. The display involves exposure of the bright pattern on the inside face of the expanded plate-like profemora. The profemoral patterns found in closely related species are discussed and it is suggested that the display may also play a role in species recognition. The courtship behaviour of E. amoena is contrasted and compared with the courtship of other species of praying mantis.     

口虾蛄性腺组织蛋白质双向电泳体系的建立及优化

旨在通过口虾蛄雄性、雌性性腺组织蛋白质双向电泳技术体系的优化,获得雄性、雌性口虾蛄性腺蛋白质的表达图谱。结果表明,不同的蛋白提取方法,上样前处理方法,上样量,聚焦时间及雌、雄性口虾蛄性腺蛋白表达图谱存在一定的差异。雌性、雄性口虾蛄用Tris-HCl提取后用丙酮沉淀方法提取蛋白质、不经上样缓冲液处理、上样量为10μg时,得到较好图谱。对图谱分析发现在pH4-6.5范围内,雌性口虾蛄性腺可溶性蛋白质种类多于雄性。雄性口虾蛄蛋白质点相对于雌性较少,且蛋白质大部分分布于酸性端。经过蛋白质双向电泳体系的优化,能显著提高双向电泳图谱的分辨率,为进一步研究口虾蛄性别差异表达蛋白的筛选,后续的口虾蛄蛋白质组学研究提供技术保障。     

Predatory pollinator deception： Does the orchid mantis resemble a model species？

Cases of imperfect or non-model mimicry are common in plants and animals and challenge intuitive assumptions about the nature of directional selection on mimics. Many non-rewarding flower species do not mimic a particular species, but at- tract pollinators through ＇generalised food deception＇. Some predatory animals also attract pollinators by resembling flowers, perhaps the most well known, yet least well understood, is the orchid mantis Hymenopus coronatus. This praying mantis has been hypothesised to mimic a flower corolla and we have previously shown that it attracts and captures pollinating insects as prey. Predatory pollinator deception is relatively unstudied and whether this occurs through model mimicry or generalised food decep- tion in the orchid mantis is unknown. To test whether the orchid mantis mimics a specific model flower species we investigated similarities between its morphology and that of flowers in its natural habitat in peninsular Malaysia. Geometric morphometrics were used to compare the shape of mantis femoral lobes to flower petals. Physiological vision models were used to compare the colour of mantises and flowers from the perspective of bees, flies and birds. We did not find strong evidence for a specific model flower species for the orchid mantis. The mantis＇ colour and shape varied within the range of that exhibited by many flower pet- als rather than resembling one type in particular. We suggest that the orchid mantis resembles an average, or generalised flower-like stimulus. Thus predatory pollinator deception in the orchid mantis is likely to function as a form of generalised food deception, as opposed to model mimicry .     

Sexual cannibalism and population viability

Some behaviours that typically increase fitness at the individual level may reduce population persistence, particularly in the face of environmental changes. Sexual cannibalism is an extreme mating behaviour which typically involves a male being devoured by the female immediately before, during or after copulation, and is widespread amongst predatory invertebrates. Although the individual‐level effects of sexual cannibalism are reasonably well understood, very little is known about the population‐level effects. We constructed both a mathematical model and an individual‐based model to predict how sexual cannibalism might affect population growth rate and extinction risk. We found that in the absence of any cannibalism‐derived fecundity benefit, sexual cannibalism is always detrimental to population growth rate and leads to a higher population extinction risk. Increasing the fecundity benefits of sexual cannibalism leads to a consistently higher population growth rate and likely a lower extinction risk. However, even if cannibalism‐derived fecundity benefits are large, very high rates of sexual cannibalism (>70%) can still drive the population to negative growth and potential extinction. Pre‐copulatory cannibalism was particularly damaging for population growth rates and was the main predictor of growth declining below the replacement rate. Surprisingly, post‐copulatory cannibalism had a largely positive effect on population growth rate when fecundity benefits were present. This study is the first to formally estimate the population‐level effects of sexual cannibalism. We highlight the detrimental effect sexual cannibalism may have on population viability if (1) cannibalism rates become high, and/or (2) cannibalism‐derived fecundity benefits become low. Decreased food availability could plausibly both increase the frequency of cannibalism, and reduce the fecundity benefit of cannibalism, suggesting that sexual cannibalism may increase the risk of population collapse in the face of environmental change.